UK Government Dithering Over Shale Gas Is 'A Farce'

The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) has welcomed the news that onshore gas exploration firm Cuadrilla has completed the drilling of its second shale well.

The well, at the company's site in Preston Hall in Lancashire, could represent the start of a revolution in the UK's energy supply, reducing dependence on gas imports and providing cheap raw materials to industry across the UK.

In 2007, Cuadrilla was granted a licence for shale gas exploration in Lancashire. Eleven years later, not a single cubic foot of shale gas has been extracted.

Forum director Dr Benny Peiser said:

"The government says it wants to get on with developing the UK's shale resource, but this can't happen until they give permission for the wells to be hydraulically fractured. Hundreds of onshore oil and gas wells have already been fracked in the UK and millions in the USA. It's a routine procedure, but after thinking about the issue for more ten years ministers are still dithering. It's a farce."